Kingston (Rhode Island)

Washington County

44-38980

Kingston is a dependent community in the U.S. state of Rhode Iceland and belongs to the town of South Kingstown.

Geography

Kingston is located about 40 kilometers southwest of Providence on the southern edge of the Providence Metropolitan Area, a metropolitan area on the Atlantic Coast with 1.5 million inhabitants around Providence, about 40 km south-west of Boston and 200 miles north-east of New York. The community is spread mainly due to the settlements Kingston and West Kingston, which apart about two kilometers. It has an area of 4.1 km ², the average height is 75 m above sea level. The municipal area is surrounded by forest, only in the area between Kingston and West Kingston are more agricultural land.

In Kingston, the University of Rhode Iceland is located. It was founded in 1889 as Rhode Iceland Agricultural College, renamed in 1909 in Rhode Iceland College and in 1953 in University of Rhode Iceland.

Is worth seeing including the 120 year old train station of the historic East line of Amtrak in West Kingston.

Population

At the 2000 census 5446 people lived in Kingston. Almost 87 % of the population were white, almost 5 % Asian and 3.5 % African-American, the remainder divided among different ethnic groups. The per capita income was 10,952 U.S. dollars, nearly 9 % of the population lived below the poverty line.

History

Kingston was originally called Little rest, but was renamed in 1826. The community was 1752-1894 the county seat of Washington County (formerly Kings County). The former importance of the community can be seen in the architecture. The historic building used for other purposes today. One example is the library, which is located in the building of the former County Court Houses, where the General Assembly of Rhode Iceland was held alternately with Newport and Providence.